Emergency escape elevator for derricks



March 2, 1954 s. P. HODGE EMERGENCY ESCAPE ELEVATOR FOR DERRICKS Filed Jan. 6, 1950 Patented Mar. 2, 1 954 UNITED S TATES .PAYTEN 1 :OFF I C E EMERGENCY ESCAPE LEMAZEOR FOB \DERRICKS Sidney P. Hod-ge, Archer "City, Tex. Application January 6, 195% SerialzN'o. 137, 15,? 2 Glaims. (01. 227-33) This invention relates to .an emergency escape elevator .for .derricks and .more particularly to a cablecar and, cable way system for the escape "of errick men or other workers from thetl latform of a well derrick, inica of fire .or other emerl y- In the drilling of .oil wells emergency conditions such as blowouts, ,fire's, and the like someimes arise without warning, and without-sufficient time to permit persons working on the derrick to escape therefrom, resulting vin death or; serious in ury- It the prin ipal .objectrof this invention to provide an emergency escape means for use on err'icks whereby workmen may quickly leave the derrick and will :be carried downto the ground atan inta considerabledistanceaway from the well. in comparative safety.

A further .roblect of thevinvention is the provision of an escap el vator having .cable ways whi hmay also serveas guym ahslfor the,..derrick.

Another object of the invention is to provide. escapelmeansfor use onderrick structures which are automatic in operation upon the entrance of the'worker intothe-safety car.

.;A further-.objectis the provision orasaiety elevator wherein the ear isvautolnatically .rl lturned to thetderrick ,as soon .as empty, and ,is' again automatically released another person into the: car.

,A- still further object ,of the invention are provide a safety elevator for use on .derricks,

and rugged onstr u ctio,n and a able of withstanding the extreme conditions of exposure and hard usage to which such a structure is likely to be subjected.

The invention will best be understood from the following description, constituting a specification of the same, when taken in coniunction Ilia. 3,1is11a detail view showing the structureand application of the counterwe ght employed with the-elevator;

4 is a cross sectional-view. taken along the,

lineA-4 otEig.1;.showing"thedetailsiotzthe suspension-system of the elevation-and how-the same is secured to the derrick structure:

upon entrance of which is positive in operation, of simple design Fig. 571sv apartial end elevational view of the suspension pulley arrangement whereby the safety car is suspended on the cable way, and adiustedzin positionthereon; and

Fig. 6 is va detail View of a modified form of releaseimechanism of the safety car.

Referring :to' the drawings in greater detail :a derrick'indicatedat 19, of conventional construe, tion, such'as is commonly employed in thedrill ingof oil-wells, has a platform or thribble 'boar'd l2 "thereon, located at a convenient height for the derrick-manin carrying out the'varieusoperations during the drilling of the Well; The platform i2 is usually at ,a considerable height above the ground, so that workers standing thereon would be unable to escape death or serious njury the event it should become necessary to leave the platform without warning in an emergency.

flhederrick i fllmay conveniently-be constructed with upright members 14 at each of its corners, lateral conne tin members It at spaced inter- Yals throughout its length and diagonal braces 1-8, connecting oppositeendsof thelateralmembers 16. The platform or thrlbble hoard I2 is conveniently formed with a floor portion 291.: above whichextendsthe hand rai1;22.

Gables Etand 26are attached 'tolthe uprights Mofthe derrick above theplatform, which cables extend outwardly and, downwardly from the derrick tothe ground-and serve a guys for the derrick as 'well 'as-forming the cable way of the safety elevator'system. 7

Intermediate the cables 2 6, at some convenient point from the derrick ii! guide pulleys 28 may bepositioned, about which pulleys the cable 3% passes for attachment to the safety car indicatedat .32, andthe counterweight 34; 'The cable 311' is of ailength to permit the safety car 32 to reach a convenient point at or near the ground for .theloccupant, to safely leave the car, while the counterweight approaches the derrick. Any convenientm'e'ans'may be employed for attachin the respective ends of the cable 1% to the safety car and the counterwei ht ch s he yesr fi and 318. v I

T l-he safety car szmay be of cylindricalor' any other convenient shape, having an entrance opening 4,0 facing the platform 12 when the car is in its uppermost position, and the bottom 52 of the car is preferably formed with a projecting portion A l, which engages the downwardly projjecting flange of an angle member 45 forming a part of the structure of the platform 12.

The top of the safety car, indicated at 48, may be arranged at a slope corresponding generally to the slope of the cable way 26 upon which the car is suspended, and to this sloping roof is attached the suspension means for the car. The car is suspended on the cable 26 by pulleys 50 and 52, rotatably attached to a hinged frame 54, secured to the roof of the car by a hinge 56. The frame 54 also carries a roller 98 adjustably mounted thereon for engagement beneath the cable 25 to maintain the pulleys 5B and 52 in engagement with the cable and to prevent the car from jumping off the cable way in operation.

A bolt 58 is secured to the upper end of the frame 54, which bolt extends through a slot 62 in an angle member Gil secured to the roof of the car, and this bolt is provided with a nut 64 which may be tightened against the angle plate 80. A washer 66 may be positioned beneath the nut 64 to provide a firm contact for the nut in securing the bolt firmly in position in the slot 62.

By loosening the nut 64, the upper end of the frame 55 may be adjusted by moving the bolt 58 upwardly or downwardly in the slot 62, so that the slope of the frame 54 may be adjusted about the hinge 56, to maintain the safety car 32 with its floor in a substantially horizontal position. Thus the slope of the cable 26 need not be accurately determined, but may vary considerably within a wide range, and the bottom of the safety car can be maintained at all times substantially horizontal.

The counterweight 34 is suspended from the cable way by means of pulleys 63 and it, which are pivotally secured to the counterweight in any convenient manner, as by means of the lugs l2, so that the counterweig t may move freely up and down the cable as the safety car moves in an opposite direction. The counterweight 34 may be sufficiently heavy to maintain the safety car in its uppermost position in contact with the platform [2, until a workman enters the car, whereupon the car will roll down the cable way while the counterweight will be pulled .ipwardly approaching the derrick.

The safety car is latched in its uppermost position in engagement with the platform i2, and the latching means is illustrated in its preferred embodiment in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The latching means may conveniently be comprised of a spring catch 76, formed by a somewhat offset loop of resilient metal secured to the hori' zontal flange of the angle member 46 by a bolt '58 or other convenient fastening means, so that the loop extends outwardly beyond the angle member a sufficient distance to permit a tubular frame portion 80, of the safety car to engage beneath the loop as the car comes to rest at its uppermost position. In this manner the car is secured in position in contact with the platform l2, and is maintained in readiness for immediate use by a workman, should the occasion arise.

In this form of the invention, when the workman enters the safety car through open entrance 40, his weight immediately pulls the car downwardly, releasing the frame portion Bil from beneath the latch loop 16, and the car rolls freely down the cable way under the influence of the weight of the occupant, at the same time drawing the counterweight 34 upward toward the derrick. A hand rail 96, within the car, provides a means by which the occupant can hold on while descending.

A somewhat modified form of latching mecha nism is shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, wherein a, hinged latch member 82 is pivotally secured to the bottom of the car at 84, and has an offset hook-like portion 85 at its free end, which engages the downwardly extending flange of the angle member 45, when the car is in its uppermost position. The latch-member 82 is urged into hooking engagement with the angle member 46 by a spring actuated bolt 83, pivoted to the latch member 82 at 96, and passing upwardly through a hole in the floor of the car. Within the car, the upper end of the bolt 88 has a foot plate 92 thereon, beneath which a coiled spring 94 is positioned, which coiled spring bears on the floor of the car to urge the bolt upwardly.

In the modified form of the invention just described, when a worker enters the car the latch mechanism may be released manually by stepping on the foot plate 92, which compresses the spring 94, and releases the latch member 82 from the angle member 46, resulting in permitting the safety car to roll down the cable way in the manner previously described, while the counterweight moves upwardly toward the derrick. The hook-like portion 86 of the latch member 82 has its outer extremity arranged at a slope, so that when the safety car approaches its upper limit this portion of the latch member will engage the downwardly extending flange of the angle member 46 to permit the latch to snap into position beneath the angle member and retain the safety car in position for immediate use.

As soon as the occupant has left the car upon reaching the ground, the counterweight 34 immediately begins to descend on the cable way returning the car to its uppermost position in contact with the platform 12 ready for immediate use by another workman if needed.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides an escape device of simple design, having few parts likely to become broken or out of order inuse, and which is easily maintained at all times in condition for immediate use, thus assuring the maximum of safety for workmen on the derrick under all conditions of drilling operations.

While the invention has been described in con nection with particular embodiments of the same it will be understood that many changes may be made in the form and construction of the various parts to adapt the same for particular conditions of use, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus clearly shown and described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patents is:

1. An escape device for derricks comprising a cable, which cable is secured to the upper portion. of said derrick and to an anchor point a spaced distance from the base of said derrick, a safety car adapted to receive an occupant which car is mounted on said cable for movement thereon, an outwardly protruding, stationary latch member mounted on said derrick and havinga downwardly projecting portion, a complementary latch member having an upstanding portion rigidly mounted on the edge of said car adjacent said derrick for complementary latching relation with said first mentioned latch member, said cable being adapted to yield under the 2. A weight actuated latch means for an".

escape car for a derrick having girts within the length thereof, one of which girts has a downturned lip mounted thereon and secured thereto, a resilient cable mounted between the top of said derrick and the ground a spaced distance from the base of said derrick, said resilient cable mounting said escape car, an upturned lip formed on said escape car in position to complementarily engage said downturned lip on said derrick, said downturned lip and said upturned lip being adapted to form a latch for securing said car to said derrick, said upturned lip being adapted to move vertically downward relative to said downturned lip upon the yielding of said resilient cable when weight is applied to said car thus disengaging said lips and releasing said car from said derrick, which car moves downward on said cable to a point spaced from the base of said derrick.

SIDNEY P. HODGE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 5 342,757 413,790 440,045 444,308 538,735 10 688,436 909,794 1,556,555 1,571 ,096 2,567,278 15 Number Name Date Morrison May 25, 1886 Powers Oct. 29, 1889 Lewis Nov. 4, 1890 Stevenson Jan. 6, 1891 Lewis May 7, 1895 Richter Dec. 10, 1901 Henry Jan. 12, 1909 Brown Oct. 6, 1925 Rambin et a1 Jan. 26, 1926 Finocchiaro Sept. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 23, 1888 Great Britain Aug. 23, 1899 

